Bio Essays (1429 words) - CanadaJapan Relations,

Bio The Japanese Internment During World War II, Canada was at war with Germany and Italy. Canada was fighting to protect the lifestyle that its citizens had become accustomed to. The soldiers in WW II gave their lives for the good of their great nation. Canada was also facing a major threat in the Pacific. The threat was the powerful nation of Japan. To that point in time Japan was the strongest military force that the world had ever seen. The Japan government was strongly influenced by military leaders who were in favor of an expansion of Japanese power in the Pacific through military means. Japan had been sweeping through such strong military forces as China, Australia and Britain (Hong Kong). Japan was a major threat in World War Two to a lot of countries. Then when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack against the Americans then the Canadian government had to move quickly to protect its borders. The Canadian government decided that it was best that the Japanese be moved inland away from the coast. This was done for two main reasons, one to prevent spying and sabotage and secondly to protect the Japanese from anti-Asian violence. This decision was not only for the good of the country but also for the good of the Japanese people. The government made the right decision for the matter at hand. It is true that the Canadian Government noted that "no Japanese in Canada has been suspected of or linked to, an act of sabotage or espionage". Also in a RCMP investigation, the Japanese in Canada were not considered a real threat but the assessment was conducted before the country of Japan was officially in World War Two. These reports would have been outdated as the ideas and beliefs of the Japanese could have changed once Japan was at war with the world. People changed their views during times of change. As Japan officially entered W.W.II many passions of the people may have changed. The Canadian Government was faced with the treat of this possible change. If the Japanese were to roam free during this time, what is to say that a small group of loyal Japanese could not have started a subversive group? The Japanese government could have also paid some of the Japanese's in Canada substantial amounts of money to spy for them. Although many Japanese living in Canada would be patriotic to Canadian cause, there would be some that would align themselves with Japan, which could be seen as a potential threat to Canada. In fact if the Canadian Government did not intern the Japanese and let them roam free, a small minority of the patriotic Japanese could have spied on Canada helping the Japanese to attack Canad ian borders. If the Japanese had attacked Canada the impact would have been very destructive. The Japanese could have easily attacked Canada because most of our military force was in Europe. We could not bring these forces back to protect our borders because the opposing forces in Europe were strong and would have surely gained an advantage over are allies. Also the potential existed for the patriotic Japanese in Canada to use terrorism and sabotage to help Japan in any attack against Canada. These types of actions would have resulted in the loss of many lives. There are many possibilities of what could have happened during this turbulent time. Canada made a reasonable decision that resulted in nothing. Undoubtedly the property of the Japanese internees was sold; nevertheless the Japanese were in internment and were not inhabiting nor using these properties. The only course of action the Canadian Government could take was to sell these properties at market value to sustain the economy of western Canada. Japanese internees said that their properties were sold at low prices. Although, the real estate market was in the right conditions to be in a recession, which would have resulted in lower prices. The Japanese received the money that properties were sold for. In most other countries, the internees would never see any compensation for their properties. Furthermore Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor almost destroying all of the American Naval Fleet. This attack concerned the Canadians